Kevin Costner wears geeky ties and drab gray suits in ”13 Days” (opening Dec. 20), but the real life figure he portrays in this drama about 1962’s Cuban Missile Crisis was no Washington, D.C., pencil pusher. The late Kenneth O’Donnell, an advisor to President John F. Kennedy, was a key strategist in the tense negotiations that kept the U.S. and the Soviet Union from blowing each other to bits. EW.com has Costner’s take on the man and the role – plus more pithy insights from Hollywood’s finest.

”Kenny O’Donnell was a tough guy. He punched a few people while he was in the White House. No one knows this, but he carried a gun strapped around his ankle because he considered himself the last line of defense to protect the president. I asked Dan Rather for his impression of him, and he said, ‘Kevin, there’s three kinds of tough in the world: There’s phony tough, there’s street tough, and there’s prison tough. Kenny O’Donnell was prison tough.”’ ”13 Days” star KEVIN COSTNER on why JFK’s right hand man was a force to be reckoned with

”I’d like to do ‘Nikki.’ When I used to talk on ‘Three’s Company’ about the redheaded girl at the Regal Beagle, I meant Nikki Cox. I adore her, so please give out a little ‘Hello, Nikki from Jack Tripper.”’ ”Felicity”’s JOHN RITTER, discussing his desire to guest star on another WB series

”When you go to the premiere, you’ve got to look right, but the whole ”Who are you wearing?” thing is so strange to me. I’m a Northwest girl who wears overalls and big T shirts. I didn’t even wear makeup before I moved to Los Angeles. My manager wants to take me shopping because he doesn’t trust me to buy a dress myself.” ”Dungeons and Dragons” star ZOE MCLELLAN on walking the red carpet for her new film

”I remade both ‘The Ten Commandments’ and ‘Ben Hur,’ so there’s no law against remakes. It’s indicative of the popularity with audiences the original film had, and you’d have to say the same thing about ‘Planet of the Apes.’ It’s a compliment.” CHARLTON HESTON on why he doesn’t mind that Tim Burton is remaking the 1968 classic with Mark Wahlberg, Michael Clarke Duncan, and George Clooney

”The script tells me that he’s somebody who liked to talk dirty all the time. That’s part of his provocation. He’s like somebody at a party who’s just constantly being lewd, like Lenny Bruce. He’s got a mouth on him.” ”Quills” star GEOFFREY RUSH on the key to playing the Marquis de Sade

”There are tons of things that have been written about me on the Internet that are total crap. I’ll go on to these fan sites and think, where the hell did that come from? All of a sudden I have two gerbils and four goldfish? I mean, really, two gerbils? And they’re named Coke and Pepsi or something like that. Come on!” ”Final Destination” star and teen heartthrob DEVON SAWA on how he feels about his fan sites

”That would be pretty cool, just as long as it didn’t look like Barbie.” ”Buffy the Vampire Slayer” villainess CLARE KRAMER on how she’d feel if her character, Glory, became an action figure

”One of my daughter’s friends said to her, ‘Your dad’s very cool. He wears leather jackets and an earring. I wish my dad was like that.’ And I said to her, ‘Bless your heart, but I know there will be a day in your teens when you will find me acutely embarrassing.’ So I’m going to thrive on her being proud of me now.” ”Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star ANTHONY HEAD (Giles) on why he’s glad his show’s a hit with his two preteen daughters.